Sir, – By what authority is Hikmat Ajjuri (July 26th) allowed to call himself an ambassador? The last time I checked, Palestine was not an officially recognised country, and Mr Ajjuri has no more right to call himself an ambassador than those who purport to represent the many and varied disputed territories around the world.
Mr Ajjuri is perfectly entitled to make his case for Palestinian statehood and apply for the position of ambassador if that comes to pass.
However, I hope by then the “ambassador” will know his history properly because the UN agreed to the formation of separate Israeli and Palestinian states in 1948 under UN resolution 181. This was accepted by the Jewish delegation but the Arab delegation did not accept it and used it as an excuse to unleash a campaign of violence against the Jewish people in that region, leading to the declaration of Israel on May 14th, 1948, and it is factually incorrect that Israel was created in by some sort of unilateral declaration similar to that of Rhodesia.
Mr Ajjuri might also like to know that if a Palestinian state is formed and accepted as a member of the UN, it will be required to abide by UN resolutions. One of these resolutions is the official recognition of the state of Israel and the right of her people to live in peace free from attack, something the Arab armies sent to invade Israel never seemed to understand.
Mr Ajjuri might also explain how his fellow Arab countries and Iran propose to compensate Jewish people for the property stolen from then when Jewish people were forcibly expelled from their homes in 1948. – Yours, etc,